This blog is yours too!

Getting some great opinions back from our readers so want to highlight those.

From Rick: Jeff, I've held my tongue til now and cooled down a bit :-). You are way off base with the Winston thing, and only time will tell, I know. We all have our biased opinions. Mine, I live in Tally. Yours, and 99% of sports fans, is that you don't.

We're talking about a good KID here, who has made a few mistakes like the rest of us. Talk to some locals here, read local writers or listen to local radio. That helps to get the whole story, not just a one-sided national media perspective. Hell, talk to my Son and his buddies. They run into these kids around town, they can tell ya who is and isn't an ass.

Our biggest issue here, was with the media. You being a Cowboy fan, I don't have to tell ya how success can breed haters. Anyway, us Tally folks got a little fed up with it too. We aren't defending his actions, no matter how minor most of them were. But we were and are, defending the obscene amount of national media garbage heaped on the kid and the FSU program.

I don't disagree with your take about the media piling on. They operate on the premise of building these guys up and then tearing them down, using much more fervor on the latter as it builds ratings and page views. As far as Winston is concerned though, there is more there than just youthful hi-jinx. The fact the university has settled with his accuser, falls under the where there is smoke there is fire file. His demeanor is such that comes off as someone who looks entitled and not remorseful.

From Keith: Your take on sports radio the week of the Super Bowl is spot on as far as I am concerned. If you flip around the dial, you can practically follow a current or former player from one show to another and listen to the same, boring answers to the same boring questions.

They still play all-star games? I had no idea since I have not watched an all-star game in years (decade). The NFL should use replacement officials since we get replacement players. I have always wondered if the professional athletes get bonus' for being named to the all-star game and do they still get it if they do not play in it? And do the replacement players qualify for the bonus since they were named to the all-star game?

I too have abstained from viewing all-star games. I struggle to find why some of them still pull ratings. And with all the replacements, it really has diminished All-Star being on a players resume.

We still have a couple of more days of boring TV and radio as they rehash the big game and race to be first to declare next years champion :).

Keep the comments coming. I love the feedback. As former Orlando Sentinel columnist Larry Guest used to title his column dedicated to letters from his readers - The Customers Always Write.

The Jeff Allen Sportstalk Blog and Podcast is brought to you by Kramer's Salve for Dogs. Help your pet end the itch and hot spot cycle by ordering today at kramersalve.net